From John O'Groats to Land's End eBook

In buying our boots we did not both adopt the same
plan. I made a special journey to Manchester,
and bought the strongest and most expensive I could
find there; while my brother gave his order to an old
cobbler, a particular friend of his, and a man of great
experience, who knew when he had hold of a good piece
of leather, and to whom he had explained his requirements.
These boots were not nearly so smart looking as mine
and did not cost as much money, but when I went with
him for the boots, and heard the old gentleman say
that he had fastened a piece of leather on his last
so as to provide a corresponding hole inside the boot
to receive the ball of the foot, I knew that my brother
would have more room for his feet to expand in his
boots than I had in mine. We were often asked
afterwards, by people who did not walk much, how many
pairs of boots we had worn out during our long journey,
and when we replied only one each, they seemed rather
incredulous until we explained that it was the soles
that wore out first, but I had to confess that my
boots were being soled the second time when my brother’s
were only being soled the first time, and that I wore
three soles out against his two. Of course both
pairs of boots were quite done at the conclusion of
our walk.

Changes of clothing we were obliged to have sent on
to us to some railway station, to be afterwards arranged,
and soiled clothes were to be returned in the same
box. This seemed a very simple arrangement, but
it did not work satisfactorily, as railways were few
and there was no parcel-post in those days, and then
we were always so far from our base that we were obliged
to fix ourselves to call at places we did not particularly
want to see and to miss others that we would much rather
have visited. Another objection was that we nearly
always arrived at these stations at inconvenient times
for changing suits of clothes, and as we were obliged
to do this quickly, as we had no time to make a long
stay, we had to resort to some amusing devices.

We ought to have begun our journey much earlier in
the year. One thing after another, however, prevented
us making a start, and it was not until the close
of some festivities on the evening of September 6th,
1871, that we were able to bid farewell to “Home,
sweet home” and to journey through what was
to us an unknown country, and without any definite
idea of the distance we were about to travel or the
length of time we should be away.

HOW WE GOT TO JOHN O’ GROAT’S

Sept. 7. Warrington to Glasgow
by train—­Arrived too late to catch
the boat on the Caledonian Canal
for Iverness—­Trained to Aberdeen.

Sept. 8. A day in the “Granite
City”—­Boarded the s.s. St. Magnus
intending to land at Wick—­Decided
to remain on board.

Sept. 9. Landed for a short
time at Kirkwall in the Orkney
Islands—­During the night
encountered a storm in the North Sea.